At a time when digital technologies are taking precedence in all areas, we must ensure adequate protection of human rights, because a society is only as safe as its most vulnerable members, said the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, Brankica Janković, at the opening of AFA Leadership Summit “TogetHER for a Better Tomorrow – The Power of Collaborative Leadership in a Tech-Driven World”.

The Commissioner stated that there are good examples of how digital technologies allow important topics to come into focus for a large number of people, but that their other side can be extremely harmful, especially for young people and women who often become victims of abuse of their photos on the Internet. Digital violence is real and should be treated as such, even though it happens in virtual space, said the Commissioner and noted that according to surveys conducted in Serbia, 78% of respondents do not feel safe on the Internet, even though they use it daily, while 74% of female respondents stated that they had not seen a single campaign against gender-based digital violence. She pointed out that it was for this reason that the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality joined forces with UNFPA in Serbia and supported the global Bodyright campaign with the aim of suppressing online violence and more effectively legally regulating the protection of private photos and recordings from abuse on digital platforms.

At the opening of the conference, Dijana Gligorijević, president of the AFA corporate board, as well as Milana Rikanović, from UN Women Serbia, also spoke. Among the participants were managers of some of the largest companies in the fields of banking, telecommunications, energy, and information technologies, who exchanged experiences and ideas for socially responsible business within panel discussions.